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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) will provide many new opportunities for peer recovery support services, according to Faces & Voices of Recovery, which advocates for people in recovery from addiction. In an issue brief, the group explains how health care reform will allow people offering these services to help individuals and families participate and receive the help they need to achieve and sustain long-term recovery.

Peer recovery support services are provided in many settings, including addiction treatment agencies, hospitals, community health centers, jails and prisons, and social service agencies. Many of these agencies and institutions do not have a strong recovery orientation, according to the brief. Some are partnering with recovery community organizations and peer-run programs to develop their own peer programs, while others are contracting with such organizations to add peer workers to current programs.

“In municipalities, counties and states across the country, program administrators and agency officials are making policy and programming decisions about funding, regulations and authorization of peer services and peer workers,” the group states in the brief. “Their decisions will have long-lasting implications on the quality, cost, type, and frequency of services and supports that people will receive.”

Read the entire issue brief for more information on peer recovery support services and the ACA.